Fire In My Heart
by peterquill
Summary: Fionna is confused about boys. Edited. AU.


**A/N:** So, I wrote this story back in 2012 and was really surprised about all of the awesome feedback I received. As of right now, this story reached 18,000+ hits, and it really warmed my heart (_bah-dah-ching!_) to find that I'm not the only one who enjoys this pairing. As one of the first Flame Prince/Fionna fanfics, I decided to celebrate it's third birthday by completely re-vamping (_bah-dah-ching!_) this story.

For those who haven't read this before, I previously wrote this after "Incendium" and before "Hot to the Touch, and decided to keep the plot pretty much the same. (I pretty much made all of this up the summer before Pen Ward could beat me to it. Don't expect it to at all be canon.)

There are some familiar things and plenty of new things to hopefully occupy your interest. I also decided to combine all of the chapters to make it a one-shot. This is now a _complete_ fanfic. Hope new and old fans alike enjoy, and forgive my terrible puns.

Credit to Pendleton Ward and Cartoon Network, and the story cover and idea is from Natasha Allegri. I can only wish to be as cool as them.

* * *

><p>Fionna the Human woke up to the sound of utter destruction that was more chaotic than the pain that was in her mushy heart. Unable to understand what was going on in her tree house, her bleary eyes opened after a few groggy moments.<p>

A wave of shock rocked through her sleepy daze as she shot straight up, looking wildly around. What the_ glob?! _Everything was being torn apart by flames of orange and red. Her comfy couch, the cabinets in the kitchen, the pictures on the walls -

_Pictures...pictures..._

Slowly in frozen horror, she turned to look at where the picture of Prince Gumball once was before she fell asleep in her own drool and tears and - oh, _no_. Panic and blind rage seized her in the same moment, both battling for dominance in her hearts. The rage won.

"Who did this?" she shouted, reaching for her sword. As if on cue, a broken and wild roar came from outside, and images of hideous ogres or orcs filled her mind. _Only a monster could do this!_ She frowned, marching over to the window. Only a terrible, horrible _monster _could destroy her picture of Prince Gumball.

Fionna swung out of her window. A large fiery body clung to her home, screeching and hollowing like some animal as it destroyed the tree with its fire. The terrible inferno monster grabbed the branches of her trees and swung his body, rocking her home enough to make her wobble with it. A cloud of black smoke entered her lungs, and she coughed uncontrollably.

Squinting through the flames of its limbs, it dawned on her that he was nearing the highest point of the tree house - Fionna gasped out loud. _The roof._ Gumball's _fireworks!_

"No!" she screamed, fruitlessly wielding her sword at the monster. "That's not _yours...!_"But when the flame sparked the tail of the rockets, Fionna's threat on the monster's life was short-loved as the rocket shot up into the air, spraying its liquid all over the monster's body.

A hissing sound pierced the air as the fire-beast was vanquished, and the monster was, before Fionna's very eyes, replaced with something quite different.

"It's a _boy_," she gasped. Not some icky ogre or orc, but a _boy_ who looked about her age.

But as the limp body sagged over the edge of the tree houses' roof, the boy slipped off from the leaves.

She almost took too long to decide to save him. As soon as she grabbed his wrist, she grunted under his weight. For being a boy, he sure was _heavy_. Glancing at the piece of Prince Gumball's hair one last time, she squished it against the side of her tree house and heaved him up in an effort to save his life. Holding tightly onto him, she struggled pulling the heavy young man up and over the edge of the window. The piece of gummy hair was left, forgotten for the rest of the chilly night.

Holding onto the boy that had only a few seconds ago destroyed Fionna's home and heart, she took a moment to analyze him. His skin, clothes, and hair were a dull brown and purple, with a slight pink pigmentation that reminded her of PG. This made her sad, but only for a moment as his eye lids twitched before they opened.

Staring into Fionna's eyes for a few moments, her heart skipped a beat as she stared back. Then he shoved her away.

Immediately, his skin turned into a yellow-orange color, his clothes orange and red, and his hair whipped into a flamed Mohawk. The gem in the middle of his forehead gleamed a deep, ruby-red and the lights from the flickering flames of his own body glittered against his gem. A slow, creeping blush warmed her cheeks as he glared down at her.

"What's so wrong with me, _huh_?" the boy snapped at her, making her flinch. "You don't _like_ me, is that it?"

Confusion overrode her fascination as her eye brows furrowed. She had no idea why he barged in, took his anger-management issues out on her tree house only to have _her_ save _him_, only for him to ask her why she _didn't like_ _him_.

"I like you," she said honestly.

The boy stared at her in anger for a few more minutes before he started to blush.

"Oh… Uh, okay then…" he muttered awkwardly before dashing down the ladder steps, small fires flickering behind his hasty steps. And then he was gone.

In his sudden absence, Fionna saw Cake, her beloved feline friend with an attitude and a knack for getting into things she shouldn't be getting into, climb in from the corner of her eye.

Staring at the dwindling flames the flame-boy left, Fionna asked sort of dumbly, "Who—who _was_ that?"

"The prince of the Fire Kingdom..." Cake muttered, and preparing herself to be yelled at. However, silence met her until Fionna suddenly spoke up:

"Cake, I think I have a crush."

* * *

><p>The next time Fionna saw the flame prince was within a month of the anniversary of the Candy Kingdom.<p>

Prince Gumball hadn't paid much attention to the young adventuress, not that Fionna minded. Her head was stuck in the clouds, or at least that's what PG thought. Fionna was still her crazy, over-zealous and spunky self, but there would be times when Fionna would look away and think deeply for a while. Gumball had his own attention on other things, and didn't pay too much attention to the young adventuress anyways.

And yet, when he did at times catch her blushing—and _not_ looking at him, as he would have expected—a feeling of curiosity filled him. Ignoring those feelings, he focused his attention on the Candy Kingdom's welfare and did his best to prepare for the Candy Kingdom's b-day and it's very spectacular ball.

And he, of course, needed the ever-ready, ever-excited human, Fionna.

"Hey, Fionna," he asked one day, wiping away the random smudges and specks on his crown with his handkerchief. "I was wondering if you would like to help out with the b-day preparations for the ball?"

Fionna's blue eyes watched as the young prince placed the crown back on his gummy hair. She was suddenly reminded of the gum-hair that was still stuck on the side of the tree house as she watched his pink hair bob slightly under the weight of the crown.

"Of course, PG, what do ya need?" she asked, a little frazzled. He frowned minutely, but carried on.

"Mr. Tree Trunks made some very special apple pies for the momentous occasion," PG explained, and Fionna thought about how his pink skin would feel if he had kissed her. Before, she would have blushed at the desire and looked away, but not this time. It was more of a curious thought, wondering what "might have been" instead of what she wanted to happen.

Now she wanted to know what it would be like if fire kissed her, and if it would burn or just sting. Thinking that, she blushed slightly, and upon Gumball's notice, he thought it was once again because of him.

"Sure, I'll go over and get the apple pies, Gumball," she agreed and rushed out of the prince's palace, her face still flustered.

Cake the Cat and Lord Monochromicorn sat outside the castle, flirting shamelessly until she saw Fionna walk by. Cake blushed slightly until she saw the young human girl hadn't noticed, or even cared that Cake and her BF were making gross kissy-sounds.

Calling a haste goodbye to LM, Cake rushed after her best friend.

"Fionna, honey, what's the rush?" Cake asked as she attempted to catch up with Fionna. _Darn her and her long legs!_ Cake grew in size to keep up with her."Is the Ice Queen after a prince again?"

Fionna shook her head. "No, PG just sent me to get Tree Trunks' apple pies for the Candy Kingdom's b-day."

She honestly, swear to glob tried to push thoughts of the Flame Prince out of her mind, but she couldn't. It was like something had engulfed her mind because all she could think about were those orange and red fiery eyes that had looked so _hurt_.

"Then, what's the rush?" Cake asked. When silence met her, she nudged Fionna up onto her back to get to Tree Trunks's home faster.

As they approached the small elephant's estate, screams suddenly erupted from a village not too far away. The duo's heads whipped towards the sounds just as a distant fire touched the sky. Steering Cake towards the village, the feline ran towards the screams of candy people.

Landing on her feet, Fionna unsheathed her pink sword and she asked the nearest candy cane what the _fudge_ was going on.

"A fire monster is upon us!" it cried. "The end is _nigh!_"

Shock overrode her thoughts until she heard a huge explosion from a short distance away. Covering her face with her arm and stretching her sword towards the flames, her defense was small.

"_Fionna!_" Cake cried as she pointed to her girlfriend, and the girl looked down to see the burn on her arm.

Hissing, she dropped her sword and inspected the burnt crisp of her arm, the smell of her burnt flesh. Tears sprung into her eyes, but she refused to let them fall as anger engulfed her.

"You just _cheesed me off!_" she screamed at the destroyer.

Instead of the village's town hall, there was a huge ball of fire that pulsed as it grew bigger, eating up more and more of the candy village. The flames of the ball spun around as if it were breathing, and it honestly creeped Fionna out. _How in the Land of Aaa could something so destructive and dangerous be unleashed onto this tiny and innocent village?! _

The air then picked up with the whirl-wind ball of fire, gravity entirely nonexistent as she looked around to see debris of the villagers's homes and stores whisk around in the current of the roaring winds. Grabbing her sword, a blinding bout of courage gripped her as she hopped onto a board of wood and thrust her body to one, and then another. Cake, running by her side, wormed her way around the flame and under the planks of wood until it was Cake that Fionna was running on.

Gazing at the inferno, her blue eyes looked around to find some sort of weakness, and found one. Ceasing her run, she gasped in black smoke and heat as sweat dripped from her body, lunging off of her feline friend and diving into the firey dome from an opening at the top.

Falling down through the small hole, fire whirled around at a speed she could hardly fathom. When she fell onto the ground, the breath was knocked out of her. Opening her blurry eyes to look around, her eyes fell on something that gave her an odd case of déjà vu.

With his back turned to her, a very familiar flame-boy had his shoulders caved in and his arms stretched out. Flame shot out from his body, fire licking off of his fingers and jumped from his yellow skin to the walls of the dome. The boy's screams escaped his mouth as his rage rose, the dome pulsing and expanding more and more, and Fionna's fear of the fire boy rose.

Pushing her fears aside, she decided to face him the best she could, because after all, no adventuress could ever be an adventuress with fear. Gathering her courage, she rose up and gripped her pink sword, and with the best shout she could muster, she shot up into the air.

"Prepare for vengeance for the candy people, you sick flame freak!" she shouted, the only thing that could get his attention.

The fire ceased from the boy's body for a short moment before he flicked his hand, manifesting a large hand made of fire to smack her from the air like an annoying fly. Looking over his shoulder, a look of annoyance shone in his horribly familiar eyes as he locked his gaze with the human girl on the ground.

Fionna gasped slightly at the red and orange eyes of the Flame Prince before she cried out in pain. Landing on her sword terribly wrong, she just nearly missed impaling herself and only made a long slice long her left tricep. Her body shaking at her poor attempt to keep herself up, her sword slipped from her hands, and landed with a clatter somewhere beyond her field of vision.

A rock from the ground cut the burn on her arm open, making a scream escape from her mouth. Curling her arm inwards, she struggled getting up as the eyes of the flame prince gazed at her. Fionna blushed, thinking that this—_this_—was the _first time_ they would meet after what happened so many weeks ago, and she really _hated_ him.

Resting somewhat near her, glimmering against the flickering lights of the fire, she finally saw her sword.

"What are..." she started to ask, but coughed. The flame prince, walking toward her, cocked his head, the flames of his Mohawk following his movements. His eye brow shot up. "Why are you _doing_ this?" She shamelessly tried to reach for her sword, and to her amazement, he let her.

"What are _you—!?_" the flame boy snapped, his hands balling into fists. "You just tried to stab me with your stupid sword!"

"That's because you - you're _destroying_ the candy village!" Finally gripping the sword with her good hand, she tried to wobble onto her feet. The heat made her sweat more profusely and made her bangs stick to her forehead.

The flame prince stood erect, narrowing his eye brows at her in an air of superiority. _A true prince,_ _for_ sure_..._ Fionna thought sarcastically, frowning up at him.

"No, I'm _not_!" he argued back. "I am merely letting out some…" he glared at her, "_steam _over recent events."

"Yes, you are!" she snapped back. "Look around! What do you think you're _doing _to them? You're destroying everything!"

Thinking better of himself, he grudgingly looked around his dome as if it was the first time he'd ever seen it. Instant shock overcame him as he looked at the burnt down homes, discarded wagons, and shop-stands that were nearly burnt down. Black remnants of the surviving wooden creations were mocking him from where they stood. He hung his head, running his hand through the flames on his head, the fire on his body sparking in anguish.

"I - I didn't mean... I didn't _know_..." he whispered, not loud enough for Fionna to hear. Watching him, Fionna started feeling bad just before he started heating back up, his eyes turning from sorrow back to anger as if a switch was flipped.

"I am not a monster!" He threw balls of flame at the walls of the dome, the fire expanding the dome. Utter fear choked Fionna as she scrambled up, nearly falling back down at the prince's shrieks. "I am not my _mother_!" Fionna nearly dropped her sword in fear, gazing at the fire as it slowly dwindled, closing around them.

Oh, _glob..._

"Please, _stop_!" she implored him. The dome not slowing down in the slightest, she felt as if she were literally _baking_. "Stop this - stop right _now!_" Wielding her sword as she marched up to him, he turned around just in time to get out of the way of having his head chopped off, but not before she sliced his cheek.

As if water had been thrown on him, the fire disappeared and he returned to his regular form. A thin cut of red was on his cheek, a bit of hot lava-like red liquid seeping out. Touching his finger to the wound, Fionna's heart sped up as his eyes snapped to hers, nearing her with a great ferocity.

"Why do you keep _hurting me!?_" If Fionna had looked close enough, she would have seen that his eyes had gone misty.

"I didn't _hurt you_," she said, surprised at how calm she suddenly was. "Cake told me what happened, about me courting you or whatever. It was a misunderstanding. She was pretending to be me; she's just a _cat!_" At that, she could practically see the wheels working in the prince's mind, and she hurried on. "I didn't find out about what happened until…after you left."

He stood there, staring at her a moment longer as he cupped his bleeding cheek and she cradled her burnt and cut arm to her chest. The frozen silence was such a stark difference between what happened only a few minutes ago that she started to relax somewhat.

"Seems like I hurt you, too," the flame prince muttered softly at her, inspecting her arm with his eyes.

Fionna shrugged and winced at her movement. "Guess we should keep each other's distances." The prince's gaze flickered up to hers.

"So, you _don't_ like me?' he asked weakly. Fionna was at lost for words. Frustration and anger all balled up into one emotion. _Jeesh_, she was so fed up with him and his anger problems, and decided to tell him herself. If no one else would, then should certainly wouldn't hesitate, _glob it!_

"I _would_," she said, huffing, "if you didn't act like such a huge jerk all of the time. You could be such a nice guy if you weren't burning things and destroying everything all the time." The flame prince's lips pursed together, but he kept quiet. "I know you're angry because you were locked up for so long, but hurting people isn't the best way to make friends. Unless you want to be friends with the Ice Queen or whatever."

"The who?"

"Ugh," she sighed. "Never mind." She attempted to swallow, but the heat of the fire made her throat too dry to allow any sort of moisture.

"I'm...sorry." The words sounded odd from him, like those words had never before left his mouth. "I didn't mean to do all of this. I didn't mean to hurt you, I just..." He kicked a rock, frowning at it as a little spark flew form the toe of his shoe. "I like you Fionna, a lot."

"I..." For once, she had nothing left to say, but the prince wouldn't stand there long.

"I've got to go," he said, and with fire-like speed, he leaned forward and planted a small kiss on her cheek before whisking away. The only thing that had shown he was there was the soft crackle of fire that was left on her cheek, a wound to match his.

Pressing her fingertips against it, the heat burned them and she pulled them quickly away.

"Fionna! Are you okay?" Cake cried, suddenly appearing from behind a building followed by a crowd of candy people. The human girl nodded numbly. "Girl, your arm is a _barbecued piece of chicken!_ Are you okay? And your _cheek!_ It's _charcoal black_—what happened?"

The feline's words went through one ear and out the other as she stared at the Fire Kingdom which was nestled in the Western horizon were the sun had not long ago sunk under.

"Let's go to Tree Trunks before it gets too late, Cake," Fionna replied. Not without a sassy response, Cake the Cat let her best friend onto her back and rode on, but not without a few arguments and sassy retorts.

* * *

><p>The next time Flame Prince and Fionna ran into each other wasn't every long after that, on the day of the Candy Kingdom's anniversary to be specific.<p>

Fionna, with the help of Cake and Peppermint Maid, helped decorate the palace with colorful flowers and candy streamers. The Kingdom was busy with decorations and excitement buzzed through the air. Fionna had the opportunity to be invited to the ball as Prince Gumball's escort, "opportunity" being PG's word for it while she starting to think that it might..._mean_ something.

Having nervous butterflies fluttering around in her belly, Cake did Fionna's fair share of worrying over what the Human should wear. After going over and over with the delusional feline that it was a very _casual_ birthday, Fionna denied wearing anything but her blue skirt, light blue shirt, tube socks with cute black Mary Jane shoes, and of course her bunny hat. Cake wondered aloud if _not_ wearing the bunny hat was at all an option, but Fionna shuddered at the thought of releasing her long, _long_ golden locks.

When the duo arrived at the ball, Marshall Lee waved at Fionna as Cake cowered slightly behind her legs. Even though to the public's eye the relationship between the candy prince and vampire king was civil, Fionna was still astounded that PG had invited Marshall to the ball at all. Catching site of Peppermint Maid, Cake walked off to avoid contact with the scary vampire.

Walking over to her vampire friend by herself, Fionna asked, "Have you seen Gumball?"

"Nah, gum fairy's been avoiding me since I arrived," he said, shrugging his shoulders. "But he may be in front of his mirror, making sure he's his perfect self." Floating with his legs near his chest and his long, gray-skinned arms hanging loosely towards the floor, Fionna appraised him with newfound interest.

After she finally started accepting that the Candy Kingdom's prince wasn't at all interested in her, she now felt more liberated to look elsewhere. And even though Marshall Lee stating he only liked her as a friend—when she failed to ask Gumball to the movie just to see a movie and Marshall went with her instead—she still caught herself crushing him from time to time. Even if he could be a real jerk, he was never as rude as the flame prince could be.

Marshall was quite handsome for being such an old vampire. His straight-black hair was thick and billowed around the crown of his head, moving easily with his pivoting head. His face was pretty cute and dangerously handsome at the same time with black eyes and a fanged smile.

Just as she asked if he wanted to sit with her later, Prince Gumball waved at her from across the room. "Later," she called, and the vampire king returned her wave to disappear near the food, on the search for something deliciously red.

As she neared the prince, Gumball wrapped his arms around her and she couldn't help but feel slightly uncomfortable and she returned the gummy hug.

"I'm so glad you came!" PG exclaimed, steering Fionna towards the royal double doors where the duo was to walk through once the formalities began. The door was decorated with white-chocolate trim and gumdrop jewels to show off the unfathomable riches of the Royal Candy family. "I was worried you'd find this a bit silly, which I can understand," he laughed. "It is a bit much, but I'd do anything for my candy people!"

"I think it's going to be gum-tastic!" Fionna exclaimed. He laughed at her, patting her head. She readjusted her cap once he turned away.

"Indeed, it is certainly going to be 'gum-tastic.' I invited most of the rulers of the Kingdoms of Aaa: Lumpy Space Prince, Ghost Prince with Clarisse of course, Strong Prince, Jungle Prince, Flame Prince, Hot Dog Prince, Space Angel Prince—"

"_Wait_," Fionna interrupted. "You mean you invited Flame Prince?" Prince Gumball looked curiously at her, and more pointedly at her hands as they began to ball into fists.

"_Yes..._" he said hesitantly. "I've met him a few times, and although he may be difficult company to be around at times, I think he's an alright fellow. Has spunk most princes can't achieve in a lifetime. Why?" He looked at her now worried face as she looked around the lower floor of the room. She thought she caught sight of a familiar assortment of flames, but it turn out to be a s'mores station for the party guests.

"It's just…" she said distantly before connecting eyes with him. "Nothing."

She thought talking about how destructive and angry the young prince was wouldn't help the flame prince at all. If anything, it would hurt him and any relationship he would have with PG and any other prince. It was probably best if he figured it on his own, instead of her getting involved with him anymore than she already has.

"Well, if you need to talk with me about anything, know that I'm here not only as your prince, but as your friend." His smile was so sweet, and for a split second she wished she _had_ still liked Prince Gumball. But then the trumpets blew and stole the moment as PG wrapped his arm around hers and the doors swung open.

As she walked down with him, she'll admit that she was a _bit_ embarrassed. With all of the rulers and princes of Aaa and beyond staring at her, she honestly didn't want to _see_ Flame Prince for fear of his critical eyes judging Fionna's and PG's relationship. Gripping Gumball's arm in anxiety, he patted her arm and released her as soon as they reached the last step.

She walked towards Cake, Marshall Lee, and LSP as they stood together in the crowd. Prince Gumball cleared his throat before taking out a scroll, opened it and began his long speech. Marshall grumbled about hitting the food table again before he passed out of boredom. Fionna nudged him with her elbow until she caught sight of a familiar fiery Mohawk heading her way. Groaning, she bent down to hide herself among the bodies of royalty.

"Fi, what do you think you're _doin_'?" Cake asked as Marshall ignored them both, his eyes set on the food table.

"_Um_…nothing," the human stressed and dodged the people to hide underneath a table. The white table cloth acted like a curtain, concealing her from view. Cake followed her, of course.

"Look, if this is another Royal Promise, you don't have to tell me. But otherwise, what the heck are you doing?" The cat placed her paws on her hips. "Are we playing a game? Because playing hide-and-seek at the Prince's royal ball isn't exactly what I call fun. I mean, I just brushed my fur and _everything..._"

Cake's words were hardly heard as Fionna caught sight of Marshall's floating body between table cloths. "Cake, listen." The cat grumbled to a halt, but complied. "Look, it's just…" She sighed, realizing it was pointless to keep something like this away from Cake. "Flame Prince is here."

The cat's eyes narrowed. "How?"

Fionna wrapped her arms over her legs, curling them in her chest. "PG and him are acquaintances or something."

"Doesn't he know what that _monster_ did to the candy village?" Cake spat, her eyes squinted into slits.

Fionna shrugged. "I dunno, I guess nobody does." _How odd._ How did the candy village people stay silent? She had thoughts of the temperamental prince threatening them with their lives, and sighed. "I don't think he's here just for the food, if you catch my drift."

"No _way_," Cake exclaimed, and covered her cat ears. "There is _no_ _way_ this guy is going to destroy PG's ball, not on my watch, _and not on yours either!_" Cake gestured to the wrap around Fionna's arm that concealed the burn that was still healing. "He did this to you, and if think that he can do that to anyone else, he's crazy! Now stop hiding, and be _brave_." Cake pulled on Fionna's good arm.

"Cake, _stop!_" Fionna said, panicking. Cake didn't understand, and **_glob_**, even _she_ didn't understand. This guy was more complicated than the Enchiridion.

"You need…to face…your…_fears_!" Cake struggled, yanking on Fionna's arm to get her out. With a final pull, Fionna toppled out and nearly tripped someone over.

"Hey, _watch_ _it_," someone snapped, and when Fionna looked up, she saw none other than the flame prince himself.

They both stared at each other for a few moments before the prince turned away, a frown on his lips to match the quizzical curve of his brows. "Hey, wait," Fionna said, climbing up from the ground. Looking for Cake, she was annoyed to see that she disappeared -_ so much for facing your fears._

"_What_," he snapped, looking over his shoulder at her with a glare that could rival Marshall Lee's.

"Don't '_what_' me," Fionna said, frowning up at him. The cut on his cheek was long gone, but the same can't be said for the burn on her own. "I'm just here to tell you that I'll be watching you, _mister_."

The prince's eye brow cocked up before he snorted at her. "Yeah, whatever. Take a number." Turning around, he started to walk briskly away. "Just don't scare any of the other candy kids with your language, _missy," _he mocked.

The human girl watched his retreating figure, and if a hole opened up underneath her, that would be really great.

After PG's long, _long_ speech, the ball finally began. Music started playing, and Fionna sat at a table with Marshall Lee. Fionna giggled as she saw Cake and Lord Monochromicorn salsa dancing, complete with a mariachi band of peppers and tomatoes on stage. Beside her, the vampire king chatted away about music, or marshmallows, or both.

"But, I don't see how the Marshmallow people could live with it," Marshall Lee babbled, continuing a conversation that Fionna was only half-listening to as she scanned the crowd for the flame prince. "I mean, for me, living near the Music Kingdom would be _righteous_. Having music blasting all day and night—all sorts. But wouldn't the Marshmallows get sick of it? Then again, I do suppose their bodies would absorb the sound waves... That's why you can't really hear the music from hear like you could four-hundred years ago. Now _those_ were the good ol' days, ya know, Blondie? If they weren't there, the sound would go on for forever."

"I thought the Music Kingdom _wasn't_ too loud for you?" Fionna pointed at him with her fork, before eating an orange-flavored piece of candy. It was one of the Kingdoms the he visited before he came back for his tree house once upon a time.

"Well, you know...if the music was better, i'd probably like it more. S'not as good as mine, ya know..." he said, grinning at her before Prince Gumball came up to them. His face fell immediately, frowning at a stain on their table cloth as PS ignored him like always. The prince held his hand out to Fionna.

"May I have this dance?" he asked as a slow song started. The mariachi band was apparently on break.

Fionna couldn't keep the splash of pink from falling on her cheeks as her hand joined his. She wanted to ask why, but Marshall Lee was already picking food from his fangs and Cake was grinning at her from across the room. He didn't even wait for her to accept before he pulled her up from her chair.

As he led them to the middle of the dance floor, she wasn't sure how she should feel about being the center of attention. She was extremely aware of herself - of her simple blue shirt and skirt and her bunny hat. _Jeesh_, and she's never been this self-conscious before.

Her self-awareness was pulled away when Gumball placed his hand on the curve of her lower back, the other still on her out-stretched hand. Mixed and confused thoughts about what she should be feeling swam in her thoughts as Gumball easily led Fionna around the floor without much help from her.

"Have you been feeling well as of late, Fi?" the prince asked upon noticing the Human's silence.

"Y-yeah, Prince! I'm fantastically awesome," she said. Gumball didn't look as convinced as she had hoped. "Really, PG. But thanks for asking." She smiled at him.

He was confused. Fionna had never been this closed off, and she had never _not_ opened up to him before. They were friends—they shared things. A few months ago he was worried about being some meetings he had with some princes, and after talking with the her, he felt a thousand times better. He realized then that he needed her like a piece of gum needed chewing or chocolate needed sugar.

He wondered why Fi wasn't responding like she used to. He felt so confused that he had hardly noticed that the song ended until the people had shoved and pushed against them, another song playing faster and louder than the former.

Fionna and Gumball looked over and saw not only Marshall Lee on his ax-bass, but also the _flame prince_ on _drums_.

Her eyes widened and she slipped quickly out of Gumball's grasp as she neared the stage. She had to admit, the duo looked...interesting up there. She had no idea that they even _knew_ each other, let alone played together. Although they were both labeled as being "bad boys," they were like each other's opposites: one was bright and intense while the other was dark and sly. They were the perfect boy-bad for any teenage candy girl to fawn over.

Except for one girl, one that happening to be Human who grew more suspicious of the fire prince as the song went on.

Marshall Lee's feet were off of the ground, his black hair fanning around his face and animated around his head as if it were alive. He did that when he was trying to be the big cheese, and the girls all fell for it anyways. Fionna actually snickered, and when that caught Marshall's attention, he winked at her. Candy canes and bonbons around her squealed.

Then, looking behind Marshall, the flame prince was looking at her. His face was rigid as she stared back at him, trying not to look too affected by his stare. But she even had to admit...the guy was _good_. They both were. His complicated high-hat and bass-drumming matched easily followed Marshall's bass. In a weird way, it was like they were made to be in a band together.

Fionna's mind drifted briefly to the day that the Door Lord took something special from everyone, and how she, Gumball, Marshall, and Cake had been a literal five-minute band. She wondered what would have happened if flame prince had been there.

_Sorry that I don't treat you like a god_

_Is that what you expect me to do?_

_Sorry that I don't treat you like you're worth it_

_Just like all your little girlfriends do_

_Sorry I can't be made of sugar_

_And can't be sweet enough for you_

_Is that the reason you avoid me?_

'_Cause I'm such an in convince to you?_

Fionna remembered Marshall singing that to PG when the Door Lord was being a butt and took their precious belongings. And, as she looked over at the Prince, so did face was red as he turned away from the dance floor that Fionna had left him at and walked out of the room in anger or embarrassment. Fi took a moment to feel bad for him before looking back over at the stage.

Instead of the softer, more melodic way Marshall Lee originally sang it, this one was harder, more exact in a pinched beat, and filled with complicated bass-thrashing as he rapped the lyrics between his fangs.

_Well, then, I'm just your problem_

_I'm just your problem_

_I guess I'm not even a person, am I?_

_I'm just your problem_

_Well, I should be justified by you_

_Or feel the need to explain it all to you_

The odd thing was, through out the performance, the flame prince would occasionally glance at Fionna. They would catch each other's eye and it would be like his eyes were so hot they could burn holes into her head. She wasn't as easily mesmerized by his playing, but the people of the Candy Kingdom enjoyed it. Hopping, dancing, and crowding near the stage, Fionna wondered if they would trample her if she didn't move out of the way.

_I'm just not sorry that I exist_

_Guess we'll be on each other's black list_

_But I shouldn't have to be the one to say sorry to you_

_But why do we want to?_

_Why do we want to?_

With an abrupt stop, Marshall stood with his hands in the air. His tongue leaving his mouth, he pelvic-thrusted at the audience enough to make Fionna blush as the candy girls around her squealed.

"The King has _left_ the _building!_" Marshall Lee shouted before turning into a bat and flying away, the audience swooning. The flame prince simply stood up and walked off of the stage without another glance to neither his new fans or Fionna.

* * *

><p>Prince Gumball was <em>not<em> pleased, and towards the end of the ball, he chewed the vampire king out about it like a fresh piece of bubble gum.

Marshall Lee simply floated there, taking the vocal abuse with a bored _I-don't-give-a-cloud_ look on his face. Fionna felt uncomfortable, with the vampire king and the Candy Kingdom prince duking it out. She hadn't seen the fire prince since he left the stage and she told herself she was worried more about what trouble he might get into than his actual well-being.

Sighing to herself, she slipped outside without anyone's notice. Walking around for a bit, her mind swam about all the recent events that had caused drastic turns in her life. She didn't like Prince Gumball as much as she used to, and some spoiled and misunderstood flame prince wouldn't stop being a jerk long enough for her to even decide whether or not she liked him.

Finding a wall just inside of the Candy Kingdom, she hopped on the edge of it and looked around at the grass that covered the ground of Aaa and beyond. The sun had long since set, but the stars shone beautifully and the night was nice and dark.

At a moment's notice, a sudden glow appeared next to her, and along with it, a warm glow. Looking over to her right, she wasn't terribly surprised to see the flame prince himself.

They were quiet as they stared at the ground next to each other for a few moments' time, and she cleared her throat. "Are you—"

"Are you and the prissy prince going out?" he asked quickly. Fionna looked confused. _Apparently people who don't like PG are in a club_, she thought, disgruntled as his behavior reminded her of Marshall Lee.

His fingers gripped the stones underneath him tightly, the knuckles underneath his yellow skin showing. Sparks of flame shot from his fists, and she worried about his self-control.

"Not that it's an of your globbin' business, _no_, I don't like him like that anymore," she said.

"Oh." His gaze shot to hers. "But you were dancing with him. He was _courting_ you! If it wasn't obvious to you, it _should _be."

Fionna wasn't sure what to make of this. Her feelings were like scrambled eggs. "He wasn't courting me," she said slowly. "We hang out all the time. We're just...friends." It was kind of funny, but this was the first time she's stated this aloud. Now she was stuck with a fire boy who hated her guts while her one and only crush was inside the castle, doing prince-y things.

"I don't believe you," he grumbled. "And I don't trust him."

"What the hay-hay do you _mean_, man?" Now she was frustrated. And besides, why did _he_ even care?

"No one as beautiful as you could ever _not_ have a BF," he said, his voice crackling. Fionna blinked and was at a loss for words at his declaration. "I see the way Prince Gumball looks at you. He looks at you like…like he has a piece of sunshine he doesn't know what to do with." He looked over at her and saw the expression on her face.

"What do you expect me to do about that, flame dude?" she asked, and he gave her a funny expression at her name for him.

"I don't know... I - ... I'm just so _angry_...about all of this..." He looked at the castle behind her shoulder, then to the bandage around her left tricep.

In a sudden flurry of anger and hurt, she pushed herself away, then leaned in as close to his face as she could without getting burned. "Listen, guy, _you're_ the one who agreed to come here - glob knows why, and... And nobody made you, ya know?" She shook her head at him, frowning as the fire prince stayed silent. "You're not in that lamp anymore, your mom isn't anywhere where she could take you again or - or _whatever_. You can do whatever you want, and if you go and do something stupid, then it's no one's fault but _yours!_"

Looking at him, a tiny part of her told her to stop because he looked like a lightning bolt struck him, but there was no stopping a mouth like hers. "Do ya know what I mean?" she said, poking his chest with her finger quickly, feeling a little sting. "You're responsible for _yourself_, for _your_ life! Not your mom, not me, not anybody! So it's high time you learn responsibility, _mister,_ and...check yourself before you _wreck yourself!_"

Once she said all that she could, she sat there huffing, glaring at him. She expect him to blow up and have a tempter tantrum that could rival the Ice Queen. Instead, he surprised her. "

"I think I really like you, Fionna," he said, a small smile warming the area around them.

"Yeah?" she said, and began to have her own smile. "Well, maybe if you weren't such a jerk all of the time, I'd consider it."

Much to her surprise, his face warmed like solid piece rock turning into lava as he stared at her. "Maybe later."

Fionna nodded, looking down at her lap as a small smile crept on her lips. He sat there in silence for a few more moments before he leaned forward and pecked a quick kiss on her cheek for the second time. Looking up at him, he grinned at her.

"My name's Philip by the way, not _'flame dude,'_" he said, smirking.

"Oh, shut up." Maybe he wasn't so bad after all, when he wasn't acting like a jerk...

"I'd better get going," he said, lifting himself up on his feet and balancing perfectly on top of the stone wall. "And by the way... It may not matter to you at all, but if things were different, I'd court you in a heat wave."

Fionna rolled her eyes. "Whatever, bub."

And just as quietly as he appeared, he left her quickly again. She shivered in the night, cold and alone.

* * *

><p>That is, until Marshall Lee found her.<p>

"Hey, Fi," he said, his eye brows furrowing. "What's up?" After all, it was unlike Fionna to sit alone, or to even want to _be_ alone. Whenever he wanted to be alone, she certainly wouldn't allow it. _"Nobody wants to be alone!"_ she'd say as she would - _literally_ - pull Marshall out of bed when he spent too much time away from her. She has the bite marks to prove it.

But she was his friend above all else, and while they might be at odds with one another from time to time, she understood him better than most did.

"It's nothing, Marshall," the human girl said, grinning up at him. That goofy smile of hers always got to him, making him hover next to her with a grin.

"How's the party in there?" Fionna asked, nudging her head back to the castle.

"Partyin' up, as usual when I perform." He bobbed his eye brows up and down. "The ladies _looove_ me."

"Yeah, I'm sure they do," she said, laughing as he licked his lips with his gross snake tongue. "Especially that _red_ candy apple back there, right?"

"Hey, I don't go sssnoopin' in your life, so don't go snoopin' in _mine_." She snorted and shoved him as hard as she could, but he allowed her a good inch away before he licked her from chin to hair line. "Then again, you'll _sssuffice_."

"_Ew!_ Ugh - **GROSS**, MARSHALL!"

Cackling above her at her misfortune, she wiped her face with the hem of her shirt. It really was too funny messing with her, especially when she was so _easy_. Humans were better than any old candy apple fart anyways.

"C'mon now, I'm jus' kidding." Tugging at the sleeve of her shirt, he noticed the red mark on her cheek. "Hey now, c'mon, you're giving yourself a rash with all of that rubbing, Fi - " Then he paused and leaned in closer.

"Marshall, what're you - ?"

"Fionna, were you burned?" he asked incredulously. She shrugged her shoulders, and he pointed at her cheek, jabbing the air around her flesh without actually touching it. "Talk about _gross_... What the heck happened?"

"Um, I... I dunno." She looked up at him. "What?"

"What d'you mean, what? You think I didn't notice you talkin' to fireball back there only to go off into the night only for you get a burn on your cheek? I may not be very good at math, but I can add one and one together, and well, I - " He then gasped and lurched forward, tugging at her shirt.

"Marshall!" She screeched, shoving him away to no avail. "What are you doing? _Stop!_"

But it was too late - tugging at her strap, the damage was done and he teared a strip on the collar. "Sorry, Fi, just lookin' for somethin' - " he muttered,looking at her neck.

"What are you even..." Fionna then caught a whiff of his scent, which really wasn't all that gross-smelling or vampire-like at all. It was actually kind of nice, and Fionna began to feel a slow burn creep up her neck at his touch.

"_Hickies_, Fionna. I was seeing if flame-thrower back there was givin' you the ol' moonlight romance." He pulled back, inspecting her with his black eyes. "D'you know what those are?"

"I - uh, no." She inspected the tear on her shirt with a frown. Good thing Cake taught her how to sew - the cat would have a_ field day_ with Marshall if she found out what he did to her shirt.

"Well, you'll learn about it later. I don't provide my Sex Ed. for free, ya know." At that, she blushed and his brows crinkled inward before darting up in surprise.

"I don't need that anyways," Fionna said,shoving him away. He let her. "So what, he _kissed_ me! On the _cheek_. What's the big deal, anyways. Why is that every guy is just...doing stuff to me, anyways? Why can't they just _leave me alone_, glob darn it!"

Marshall could see that he had made a very grave mistake and tried to laugh it off. "C'mon, Fi, I was just kidding."

"Well, it's not funny, because I'm tired of guys like _you_ - " She poked him and it actually hurt. She needed to cut her nails, but now was no the right time for him to bring it up to her. "- telling me what to do or how to feel. It's stupid, and honestly, not very cool at all."

Marshall rolled his eyes. "Okay, now you're just bein' ridiculous and it's embarrassing - "

"No! I'm _not_," she said, frowning as she sat up. "In fact, I don't think I'm being ridiculous at all. I think _you're_ being ridiculous, and Philip, and PG... It should be time for me to do something ridiculous by now, shouldn't it - ?" Then she paused, looking up at him for moment before staring at his lips.

"Fi... Fionna, I don't think - "

"Oh, _shut up_." Grabbing him, she jerked him down to her level, and before he could do much of anything besides cry out in surprise, she pressed her lips against his.

If he was honestly being honest with himself, he'd admit that Fionna - for being new to the whole kissing business and all - was really quite good at it. And trust him, he's had over 1,000 years of experience in the kissing business in his lifetime. He'd never kissed a human before, and he was surprised to find that they really know their stuff. However, it only took a short moment for Fionna to have her fill before she shoved him away.

"Whaaa..." Marshall floated a few paces away, looking at her with his hand to his mouth. A deep red blush colored her cheeks and her fury dissolved into one of regret.

"Oh, glob... Marshall, I..."

"HAH! Oh my, _GLOB!_" Cackling, Marshall lost his levitation and fell directly onto the ground. "Fi-Fionna the Human just...kissed me! WHOOO, oh _glob_, that's good."

"_Really_," she growled but having no affect on him. "Stop acting so immature."

"I am never letting you live this one down, Fionna, not ever!" Laughing as he got up from the wet grass, he wiped tears from his eyes. Helping her down the wall, he bobbed his eye brows. "Sure you don't want to go for Round Two, _Human?_"

Shoving him away, she rolled her eyes. "I'm going home."

"Oh, me, too. What a _coincidence..._" He laughed as she threw a rock at him, missing him by a mile.

But in the midst of all of his teasing on the way home, she couldn't keep her small smirk off her face. She didn't regret it, and even with the teasing and bickering that was promised to follow afterwards, she was glad that she had given her first kiss to her best friend.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Hopefully, this time the ending was more of ending. I may not be as much of a fan of this show like I used to be, but I still enjoyed re-writing this little fic. Thank you all so much for reading it and enjoying these characters as much as I did!

Reviews are greatly appreciated.


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